"Don't Cut Our Taxes", Say 400+ Very Wealthy Americans. "Raise Them".

15 November 2017

Stating that such a move "further exacerbates inequality", the writers also say the bill would add to the already significant debt of the United States. And, of course, nearly all of the tax cuts will go to the top one percent. During that same period of time, the share of wealth controlled by the bottom 90 percent of earners dropped precipitously - as it has been for several decades.

■ Households making more than $900,000 a year would see their taxes reduced by an average of $200,000 a year, or about 22 percent of their incomes, while households making $59,000 will see a tax cut of $1,182, or a reduction of about 2 percent of their incomes.

However, 76 percent said it was more important to cut taxes for corporations than it was to cut taxes for the wealthy. On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office drew a conclusion that the tax bill of the Republicans would cause the deficit to increase by $1.7 trillion over ten years, once additional costs for debt servicing were incorporated (but macroeconomic effects were excluded).

The millionaires' letter was signed by the founders of Ben & Jerry's, fashion designer Eileen Fisher, and philanthropist Steven Rockefeller, as well as many unknown but wealthy Americans.

In new letter, wealthy group denounces the GOP proposal, which "would disproportionately benefit wealthy individuals and corporations with provisions including repealing the estate tax, repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slashing the top pass-through tax rate."

"We call on Congress to raise our taxes to bring in much-needed revenue and to restore investments in vital services".

Despite an insistence by Republicans that their goal is help the middle class, only 8 percent of Americans think that demographic will benefit the most, the poll, which was conducted November 3-8, found. "Under no circumstance should tax reform lose revenue, especially to provide tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations".